On November 28, the presentation of the book "Architect Wegman" took place in the White Hall of the Central House of Architects. The audience before which the authors-compilers of the book - Ilya Utkin and Irina Chepkunova - spoke, was relatively small, but at the same time consisted of people who were quite prominent in the world of art history and architecture. In general, the feeling from this presentation was somehow very cozy. Although it was intimate, it was quite solemn: Ilya Utkin spoke of his grandfather Georgy Wegman with extraordinary warmth, very sincerely, and his friends, close and just good acquaintances, were sitting around him, listening to him with undisguised interest.
The story that he told and which is set out in more detail in the book itself is quite dramatic. This is a story about a very talented architect who, despite numerous troubles in life - he survived two style reforms (Stalin's and Khrushchev's), was persecuted and persecuted in the post-war period because of his German origin, - managed to withstand and, moreover, managed to keep for years of professional activity, a crystal clear reputation, which, I suppose, was not at all easy, given the realities of the 30-50s.
As an architect, Georgy Gustavovich Wegman showed himself even while studying at MIGI: his expressionist projects like the Lighthouse in the Port in 1922 and the theater in 1923 stood out strongly against the general background; and his graduation project of the Museum of Red Moscow in 1924, made in the style of "industrial architecture" (the definition was invented by Georgy Vegman himself), turned out to be so original and bold in its figurative and constructive solution and presentation - the technique of opaque paints was first applied here that "Is perceived by young architects as a guideline in the formal-aesthetic search for new architecture" (S. O. Khan-Magomedov. From the book "Architect Vegman" - chapter "Years of Study", p. 43). The project of the Museum of Red Moscow was even published in the programmatic work of the great avant-garde theorist Moisei Ginzburg “Style and Epoch”.
In the second half of the 1920s, Georgy Wegman took an active part in the architectural life of the capital. In 1925 he joined the editorial board of the new magazine "Contemporary Architecture". In parallel with his educational activities, he also became actively involved in competitive design - for six years - from 1924 to 1930 - he managed to participate in more than ten competitions. In particular, his project for the competition for a residential area in Kharkov was awarded the first prize. Subsequently, this project was partially implemented.
In the early 1930s, Georgy Wegman worked at Ogizstroy (1930-1931) and in Giprogor (1930-1933). This period of his creative activity was marked by a victory in the competition for the Intourist hotel in Tbilisi (1931).
However, paradoxically, his talent was fully revealed in the mid-late 30s, in the era of domination of traditionalism and monumentality in Russian architecture. In the famous competition for the Palace of Soviets in 1931, which determined the further vector of development of Soviet architecture, Georgy Vegman could not take part due to the fact that he fell ill while on a business trip in Crimea, but the results of this competition, namely the victory of Boris Iofan in it, he, like many of his colleagues, he regarded it quite unambiguously - as a signal that an urgent need to change course. It should be noted that Georgy Vegman surprisingly quickly and painlessly adapted to the new conditions. His first project in the classics (co-author - A. Vasiliev) - the stadium "Central Committee of Electricians" in Cherkizovo in Moscow - it seems to me, almost the best work he has created in this style. The first version of this project, dated 1933, still contains echoes of Georgy Wegman's former passion for constructivism. The final version of the project, dated 1934, is a pure Stalinist classic. The "classic" version of the project was implemented in 1935. At the same time, the stadium in Cherkizov was named among the best buildings in Moscow. Unfortunately, this structure has not survived to this day - in the 90s it was demolished.
Upon completion of work on the stadium, Georgy Vegman was invited to participate in the design of the locks of the Moscow-Volga canal (now the Moscow Canal). For him, this was a huge step forward - the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal, as well as the construction of the Palace of Soviets and the Moscow Metro, was considered a priority task for Soviet architects, respectively, participation in any of the mentioned projects was extremely honorable and promised considerable political dividends. Georgy Vegman got to design gateway No. 6, as well as all related stations, substations, workshops, and so on.
From 1933 to 1942 he took up teaching at the Moscow Architectural Institute. So, for Georgy Gustavovich, everything turned out more or less successfully, until in 1944 he was repressed on ethnic grounds and exiled from Moscow to Ukraine. There he headed the workshop of the Kharkov branch of Gorstroyproekt. He spent a total of 26 years in exile - he returned to Moscow three years before his death.
Having assumed a new position in Gorstroyproekt, he began to participate in the restoration of the Ukrainian cities destroyed by the war. According to the projects of Georgy Wegman of that time, the city of Kerch, Zaporozhye, the streets of the city of Zhdanov, residential and industrial buildings in Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk were rebuilt. The book, presented at the Central Academy of Arts, says that it was during the period of exile that Georgy Vegman reached the greatest heights in architecture. This remark does not seem correct to me. Georgy Wegman's projects for Zaporozhye, Kerch, Kharkov, Zhdanov and Dnepropetrovsk are undoubtedly made masterfully, they contain many valuable plastic and spatial finds, but still, in my opinion, the best that he created is the Museum of Red Moscow and "Central Committee of Electricians".
As for the book itself, it is brilliantly designed, and the texts contained in it are written in a lively, pleasant language - they are easy and interesting to read. We rarely publish such books. In terms of the quality of performance and the selected material, it is quite comparable to the publications of the same Stalinist period. It is evident that colossal work has been invested in this book.
And Georgy Gustavovich Wegman, a man of extraordinary fortitude and great talent, definitely deserves to have a similar book published about him.
